Mitch64

Agreed, the summer of 84 was great..with the new colorful characters (Reva, the Four M's, Alex) mixing it up with the Bauers and the Reardon's..I never knew why they obscured Nola even before the fall....she should have been in the middle of the cabin mystery..why get rid of Justin right when it would have been dramatic. But in the fall it all got weird and started to fall apart. Kobe and Long actually brought in Calla and Simon and that boring girl (India was actually going to be Beth's cousin who was going to be like a Roxie....but when MKA read for it they switched the characters up. The whole mess with Infinity and the record company and Liz Taylor's kid who supposedly was going to be Beth's new love???? It seemed GL constantly screwed itself just as it got back on track.

It was filler before Betsy popped her kid out and for the drama to start. The problem was the Dobson's wrote for 5 characters constantly, so they couldn't let this triangle slowly simmer for the pregnancy and give someone else something to do for a bit.

The great run of Long/Kobe started to fall apart a few months before (recast Ed, writing Mike off, the obscuration of the Bauers and Reardon's for Reva and the Lewises) but some of this is still good. I am surprised at for that time, how interesting the dialogue between Victoria and Alex was "separate but equal" despite the stupidity of Brandon being alive (he didn't even need to be alive for this to work.) It also is interesting how later they screwed it up worse with Amanda being Brandon's daughter...(I always wonder if that was a McTavish storyline...) It always kills me how dumb Roxie looked on the bull, and I hate how they made Mindy suddenly into a bitch on wheels to make good ole Roxie the heroine.. I always look at Bev scenes and think how Marj would have played it..(hissing and breathing heavy no doubt.)

Agreed, you look at clips back then and all the men. looked middle aged ..(even Tom, and the I think the actor who played him is sexy as hell, but I like the uptight guys in suits thing ( I wonder if a bit later he would have made a good Alan Spaulding...)but his line readings and everything else makes him seem older its odd when he calls Lisa "mom". There had to be five lawyers running around and the music just seems depressing. The Dobsons didn't improve a lot and on their second time around the show had gutted its core and its was down to focusing on about 5 characters..(though it could be fun once in a while...)

Ha..I miss the Mona Lisa..."Where do you want to go eat..." "Oh, I don't know...well...how about the Mona Lisa"...."Wow, great idea!" as if it wasn't ATWT's only restaraunt! As much as I loved the Mona Lisa and all the plot lines converging, (and it always did feel like the end of a real day when they went there..) I forgot how ugly the set was and how anyone could ever eat at those small table? Earl was so boring(and that name...) Granger would have made a better gay foil for Lisa then her husband...I loved Lisa, but besides Bob and Grant, all her lovers and husbands were not that interesting...she was more fun mixing it up with everyone, so it would have been fun to see her with a gay friend, snarking on Lucy and Suzi Q and Ole Johnny together. Trying to make Grant a suspect had to have been one of Marland's worst mysteries..uptight, solid Grant who was fooled by Joyce's fake brain tumor would not be a cunning murderer, and you would have to be blind to not see the new character who was suddenly involved in everything was the culprit. I am in the minority, I found Bryce's Craig to be a whiney puss, constantly on the verge of tears about a woman in his life, and his propping of Lily was the worst out of all the Lily propers in town. So the new Craig was weird and didn't add up.

Well, the whole Doug Cummings story was a bit of a reference to the Willows...(gothic, dead wife, crazy assistant, Dream's End vs. Willows.) While I am glad he came over to ATWT, I would have loved what he could do with GL at the time. Bea Reardon was still on the canvas but not used, so he could have brought Lisa Brown back as Nola...(though getting past the Quolas would have been hard as she should have come back alone..) and built the Reardon's back up..He would have loved writing for Alex, and maybe brought Mike back to rebuild the Bauers and also he would be on the spot to write Bert's death. He could have reignited Vanessa and woken her up from her "I'm a Lewis," coma and I do wonder what he would have done with Reva?

Of all the triangles Rauch and Co. were into...I can't believe they never revisited Harley and Jarsh. Well, I know its because they have to have two women fighting over one man and one woman is evil, but would have been cool to have a no villain triangle...(and saved us from Gush...) And it would have driven the Java nuts and Pharley nuts crazy!!!

Naah, McTrash was a writer during that original storyline...it was even dumber then Kyle's plane crashing into the Amish barn...Kurt the nicest dullest guy, until Frank Cooper came along, took a spear gun and forced Kyle and Reva to parachute off the plane, you see he was married to Roxie while she had a split of Rosie, and he was trying to save her. Reva had her big ass 80s hair and a big fur coat somehow actually crashed into the Amish barn (this was during that Harrison Ford movie being popular so it was a ripoff) and were a-okay. For reasons, Reva and Kyle didn't just go to a phone and call SF to let them know they were okay, so were subjected to scenes of Reva being washed with lemons by Kyle..(Amish don't have showers...) and if you don't think was all McTavish you don't know Megs. So yes, she was referencing that storyline, which no doubt she thought was a high point. That was the exec producer who went out and puked in the street as the fight was pretty nasty. Who knows what it was about, but Long wanted Zimmer back for a short "ghost/angel/dream" story of her visiting Marah and Zimmer was up for it. But CBS,which apparently had better taste then years later, said no, so that, and the Jewish storyline being nixed pissed Long off so she left when her contract was up. JFP used that story for the "ghost" return (so she didn't have to bring Zimmer back full time.) But that would be hard to explain why Reva stayed away from her kids so long without amnesia and if she did have it, why Kyle didn't clue her in on who she was. They should have just left it that Reva had one bout of amnesia that lasted for years, and if they want to throw in a past life, it was under the original amnesia and she escaped from a danger and hid out in amish town. When her memories returned it was only her recent memories, and the rest of fuzzy...(and a good explanation why she allowed Alan to talk her into keeping it a secret from her family, all she remembers was something like hitting a man and there was blood..) But I agree, instead of San Crud, have Kyle come back to town, on the arm of his wife Amanda (CC would have made a great Amanda) to take on the Spaulding and Lewises. I can't believe a Prince on an island got out of the concept room.

I don't know why P & G didn't snap her up and away from ABC and used her as a consultant. I think she didn't want to grind of being a headwriter...(I love her comment about "Susan Lucci is NEVER going through menopause"..would have loved her to write Reva's menopause.)

Ah...Marland trope..ambition is bad and destroys relationships...even though most of the characters are upper middle class to rich and must have some ambition to get there. There are a lot of characters here and I can see why successive writers cut down on the amount..only Marland could have juggled all of this and even then, the more and more he got away from the core..(remember Aunt Mary???) Mark Lewis...he was so cute here and on GL...too bad his GL character was so boring and tied up Mindy from doing anything more interesting then stamp her feet and pout. Love how the MonaLisa suddenly became "peach." Whatever happened to it..did they ever mention it during Gautman.

I'm so old I remember seeing that in real time..when watching GL and getting high after class was part of a daily routine (ohhh. a much more simple world.) So the writing for BevAlex wasn't ALWAYS great..as she comes off as a moron here...(as if she wouldn't know Alan even masked up...) Calla..no one gives a [!@#$%^&*] about Jesse...Alan is about to come back...and as if Van would ever been intimidated by boring Calla...though I love Kimmer's hair here (she was a freaking knock out during this time...) and India gloating in the background...The Alan returned story just sucked as there was no Mike, Hope, there was Faux Ed, and Faux Phillip..the only one we cared about who was impacted was Alex..(and maybe Van and Henry.) Would have made much more sense to have brought back Mike earlier and have him with Alex, and Hope with Ross when the reveal came.

I don't think so...I know that when Fulton was doing a play in 85 they wrote her off to go visit her mother..and Tom clearly is asking how "Grandma" was doing and it wasn't Nancy. Weird that they just had her Mom just disappear. Did they have Judge Lowell die?

While it was not a good time for the show, this was really Reva at her best. She became independent and I actually liked Fletcher for the first and only time here, and love that they didn't do the obvious, but that Reva and Fletcher were buddies. While I don't like Kyle that much (I think Malloy was a very effected actor by then and his Kyle came off as cold and controlling..) I do think he would have been a great character down the line for Reva2.0 with a new actor. Instead of San Crud, maybe Kyle is married to Amanda, comes to SF just to get in Reva's orbit and then finds our he IS Marah's dad. I would have sent RR's Alan off someplace and have Phillip take over Spaulding and he and Kyle go head to head, etc.

I LOVED the Lakeland Country Club set and the bar area...you always knew sh*t was going to hit the fan there. But let's not even think about poor Alex, eating a hot dog in Wheeler's closet made to look like a 7-11. But on the reverse side Raunchie had EVERYONE act like they were the Spauldings...Lillian wore designer outfits...Beth did..but really, what the hell did she do to get money???Matt was wearing ties and a jacket. He got rid of the Reardon's and put the Coopers into Company to stink up the joint, (not that I missed that diner set) but made them more middle class then blue collar.

That would have been difficult as Diana and Betsy were rivals for a while over Steve. I don't know why Marland totally forgot about Diana...beside the fact that she didn't have a morose bone in her body! Instead of boring, bland Taylor after Tom...they should have brought Diana back for a bit and as he helps her with one of the problems she created for herself, they start to have a real emotional connection...causing Lisa to be really conflicted as she and Diana had grown close after "ole, dead Whit" became "ole, dead Whit." Thankfully I wasn't watching the show when. Craig was screwing Danni.. gahhh...it was like GL and having Alan-Michael boinking simpering Marina who he thought was his kid for a bit.

I loved Lucinda and Diana (I loved her going for a loan in that hat...) and the show at that time. A bit campy but still warm and ATWT...setting the stage for Eileen to return and Nancy and Chris...it was a fun time for the show.

IMO..I don't know how "talented" he is in films..his relative is a producer at Marvel and he just plays a guido in each film/TV series. He got cast as he was a hot piece of ass...(how he stood out from the thousands of hot pieces out there I don't know) and that was that...totally inappropriate for a Central Illinois farm boy but he would have been really good as a Santos (and I do think he has a certain talent..not just in that role.) And it was Hunt Block who said it in an interview..that he could hear his costars banging in the next dressing room and I don't think it was the Danny actor an whomever his Chele was at that time. I know people hated Block on ATWT..but he I always liked him on both shows. And I think you summed up Rauch's GL quite well, overly lit, garish with big Tits being thrown around..and I think Rauch would be proud of that!

Actually, they brought her on as an Erica Kane clone...and she was kind of fun being bitchy to Suzanne Davidson's Betsy..but they were fighting over boring Eric and Davidson's Betsy seemed way too young to take abuse from a vixen. In the beginning she was going to be a young Lyla (she was a bit of a good time girl in her youth) and older Lyla was worried about her going so far as to make her wear a "slip" to the masked ball, which Cricket took off and Lisa gossiped about Cricket's dancing and it got Lyla pissed. After a bit Loring's lack off..."skill" put her on the back burner and she got less bitchy as Margo took over the misguided girl work. I remember Bunim keeping her around as she just loved "all that hair" RIP for Loring.

I still say that Elizabeth, who had her own mental health issues, should have been the one to hide Phillip when he was "dead" and orchestrate the whole storyline from afar to find out who killed her son..in a gothic mansion that only exists in books and soap operas. Finding out that Harley did not do it but Alan did she would return to SF to bring holy hell down on he and Alex, (who would of course be protecting Alan against her better judgement...) God..I love this as dumb as it is...(Vanessa is the only one who has the appropriate reaction to the whole thing..it was sooo beneath her.) This is the turning point where I really disliked Marj/Alex...she looks like Heat Miser when she is telling Roger to shut up. Again, it is too bad..Marj could be quite good as a more Midwestern Alex...but she played what was on the page and like the rest of the former SB crew...couldn't resist chewing up a little scenery. The storyline however was good leading to the Peter custody battle which involved all the vets (and a nice change from spending all out time on 5th Street for the Justin Deas show.)

He definitely would have stayed. This was a display of Wheeler's ignorance...Ross was the tentpole of the show with both Bert and Mo gone..he was a soap opera abnormality..having three kids with the one woman, (who has seen that since Nancy and Chris or Tom and Alice) and had connections with everyone not mention plot stirrer Dinah. But they kept Deas and Dicipolous on contract? I liked the "Lifesavers" opening and thought the show was pretty good at that point, (the anniversary, Joan Collins, Ed coming back) but it all was shitted away with Conwest and their cheap opening to boot. But still, I would have just done what Rauch did, use a snipped of the lighthouse and "hold on to love" and right into the show...we know what show we are watching thanks!

John Dixon faking his death to frame James Stenbeck...but unfortunately his love obsession, Dee Stewart was put on trial for it. It was not the shows best era as the Dobson's had stripped the show of its base (Wagner quit, McLaughlin was on recurring and the Hughes were obscured) but it was a good fun plot (if you overlooked the fact that Dee was being charged with no corpse being produced.) Margo and Tom broke off because of it, even as she was preggers with his kid and John revealing himself in court was a great soap moment! The only problem was that Dee was being played by Vicki Dawson who was a weak recast.

I went back and watched March 2005 and it was quite good..not Curlee/Long good, but good just the same. As usual with GL, all the elements were in place to pull it out of a hole, or at least keep it afloat and entertaining and then an abrupt change of tone dumps it all back. They had Sebastian and Liv set up to fight at Spaulding, with Josh, Holly, Blake and others getting thrown into the mix (I really can't forget the scene were Sebastian was kind of flirting with Josh and Josh acted like he was kind of liking it..not written in the material but the Sebastian actor played it that way and Newman went along with it) Jonathon was still a little pr*ck and was mixing it up with Dinah, Dinah was all shades of grey, Alan was actually acting manipulative and Harley was not yet dropped into her love goddess perfect woman act and Ehlers wasnt schrieking yet, There were bombs...that actress who played weird china doll Lizzie, the overload of Coopers, the reliance on Prince Eddie past his expiration date and of course Brad Cole front and center and Phillip still "dead." but for what was to come, it was good. I always wondered what happened to drop all the momentum at this time and at others. I was okay with all of that...anyone who hated Post Resurrection Reva and her shrieking trash sister I want to buy a few rounds for...but I hate that they made them both NUTS to prop those bores up and not just cool "I'm India Spaulding and yes, I am a bitch but you will never catch me getting my hands dirty..I HIRE that OUT!" bad. Everyone says oooh Reva was so great but no, in her second go around they needed Annie to keep them afloat and then a clone and every other stupid storyline. I wish they had moved Annie more into other areas...fighting it out with Alex would have been cool, but especially former friend Vanessa. I would love to have seen Van drop boring Matt and the rose garden to go a few rounds with Alan and Annie. But to do that would leave boring Reva and Jarsh to their own devices. But my fave line of all time...Dinah..."Oh Reva, just SHUT up!"

You don't remember the famous line..."Oh Reva..just SHUT UP!" Lol..I immediately liked the annoying Dinah for telling newly self-righteous loud mouth Reva to F off! Oh that damn summer camp with the lake monster! I remember them stranding Roxie and Billy on an island (uh, how big IS this lake) to try to chem test them for a storyline which would have been weird but really kind of interesting..taking Roxie to her trashy roots "Come on Big Daddy!!!" and make Van roll her eyes even more!

They wanted to forget Carol ever existed, and did, when Steve and Betsy became a thing. She was never mentioned in relation to her marriage to him. Would have been interested to see her pop up and warn Betsy, but they would never have done that. Agreed, she should have stuck around on recurring, would be interesting to see a non judgemental character with a Christian background dealing with all the nonsense in Oakdale..much less her former, and much married mother in law Lisa.

I love the off kilter music they use when the focus on the package...this was the high point of Marland's ATWT..the Hughes as the center of it all, great use of history to spring new story...so much character interaction...and bit of campiness. It was all down here into morose stories focusing on the Snyder's quasi incest and a unknown kid popping up every other week...(Duke, what the hell was the point with him???) Compare this to Sheffer/Gautman Christmas time in what 2000? The Huhghes, who made a big deal on Christmas since Nancy and Chris, all are two busy to have their "open house" and are split apart for most of the episode, and since they have no house set anymore, they have to have dinner at the Mona Lisa. Sad indeed.